[08.11.2011]
CS! sprach mit George Miller...
[...] "Theoretically, it's next year," Miller said of Fury Road, which plans to place Tom Hardy in the role originated by Mel Gibson. "We have 150 big vehicles built and so on."
Readers caught a glimpse of some of those vehicles last year when production seemed imminent. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
"[W]e were all geared up for that," Miller recalled. "We were all set to shoot in the Australian desert and then unprecedented rain came and what was the wasteland -- completely flat, red earth -- is now a flower garden. The big massive salt flats in the center of Australia where they do record speed trials and stuff is now full of pelicans and fish... We sort of lost the wasteland."
Though the hope is to move forward in 2012, Miller was quick to point out that it's impossible to know when a movie is going to happen until the camera is actually rolling. [...]

[05.03.2011]
The Daily Telegraph meldet...Director George Miller said that Fury Road, the fourth instalment in his groundbreaking Australian franchise, had not been jeopardised by extended delays caused by extreme weather patterns.
"We've built the vehicles. We've designed the movie. The principal cast is locked in. The film is funded. It's all ready to go. We just wait," Miller said yesterday in Sydney, where he is currently in production on Happy Feet 2.
The filmmaker was to have started filming Mad Max: Fury Road in Broken Hill in January -- until heavy rain broke a decade-long drought, turning the apocalyptic landscape into a flower garden.
Since then, the weather conditions have become even less film friendly.
"Ironically, had we been shooting in Broken Hill in January and February -- when we were meant to -- we would have been flooded out," Miller said.
There has been plenty of industry and online speculation that the continuing delays might eventually cripple the big-budget production, especially in light of the strong Australian dollar, which has already killed off Australia as a location for some other major US-financed productions such as The Green Lantern.
An earlier attempt at a fourth Mad Max film -- which was to have been shot overseas -- also fell over at the 11th hour.
But while the man who will play Mad Max -- British actor Tom Hardy -- has signed up for the new Batman film in the interim, his production schedule still leaves room for a trip to Australia next year.
Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are also attached to the project.
"All the contracts are signed. It's a locked-in film. It has been for 18 months now," Miller said.
The NSW filmmaker said he and Warner Bros, the studio with which he is also working on Happy Feet 2, had agreed to a 12-month delay.
"We will restart pre-production later this year and begin early next year -- weather permitting," he said.
"It also gives me a chance to get Happy Feet really going well -- so there were a lot of factors in the decision. But the big one was that we really had nowhere to shoot."
Miller said a similarly unexpected deluge interrupted production on the second Mad Max film -- the first to be shot in Broken Hill.
"The week we were to start, it rained the heaviest it had in 10 years. I'll never forget the first day -- we were holed up in a big sort of shed watching the rain. We couldn't shoot. If you want the rain to come, just send a film crew there."

[10.10.2010]
The Australian meldet...
George Miller's film has been delayed for a second time and will not begin
filming until 2012.
The delay has left many major film crew members without work amid fears the
high Australian dollar could ultimately kill the film as its budget
grows.
Key crew were told this week not to expect to return for pre-production
until August or November next year. Production is now anticipated to begin
in the Broken Hill region in February 2012.
The film had already been delayed. In July, Kennedy Miller Productions said
unseasonal rains had made the Broken Hill area too fertile and production
was put back to later this year. [...]

[06.10.2010]
ABC berichtet über die Stuntfrau für Charlize Theron...There are plenty of stars in the Australian swimming squad, but perhaps only one has had Hollywood come calling.
Her name is Annabelle Williams, a 22-year-old Gold Coast freestyler, whose most significant credits to date are bronze medals at the 2008 Paralympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games.
But Williams will soon also find her name appearing on the credits of the upcoming Mad Max 4 blockbuster.
In December last year, the producers of the yet-to-be-completed film were looking for an athletic, blonde woman with half an arm to be the stunt double for one of Hollywood's most glamorous women.
It was a perfect match for Williams, whose left arm ends just below the elbow.
"I got a phone call from one of the people at [the production company] and they said it's got a $200 million budget. My mum was sitting there and we were just like 'What?'"
"Then they said that the lead actress was Charlize Theron and I nearly died.
"And then I thought to myself the resemblance (between Theron and myself) is striking.
She laughed, adding: "Not at all. And she's about a foot taller than me."
In the film, Theron's character will have part of one arm missing. Williams will fill in for the Academy Award-winner during a fight scene.
"They are going to film me from a very long distance for the fighting so that they don't have to CGI out her arm.
"I will be her, but just not [in] the face."
Williams was assessed by a James Bond stuntman to make sure she could undertake the role. After getting his backing, she was sent off to learn the martial art Muay Thai.
"I've been training for about six months with a guy who was in the SAS and trains the military and things," she said.
"It's actually quite confronting to have someone launch at you with the intent to hurt you."
Williams will be hoping some of that fighting instinct can help her score a medal at the Delhi Games, where she is competing in the S9-category 50 metres and 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.

[11.08.2010]
Heat Vision meldet...Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, is in talks to nab a role in "Fury Road," the fourth installment of the "Mad Max" movies from writer-director George Miller.
Miller also is producing with Doug Mitchell.
The movie's plot is being kept secret, but things take place a short while after the story detailed in 1985's "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," the third in the series. That keeps Mad Max relatively young and allows him to be played by Tom Hardy ("Inception").
Keough will play one of the "Five Wives," a group of women that Hardy must protect from the bad guys. Zoe Kravitz, Teresa Palmer and Adelaide Clemens are three of other wives.
Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult round out the cast.
The movie is eyeing a start date for early next year.
Keough, repped by WME, started modeling at age 14 but made her film debut in this year's "Runways," the biopic of 1970s girl rock band. She played Marie Currie, the sister of bandmember Cherie Currie.
This year, Keough -- the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and musician-actor Danny Keough -- shot "The Good Doctor" with Orlando Bloom and replaced Olivia Thirlby as Jack in "Jack and Diane," the indie werewolf romancer with lesbian overtones that also stars Juno Temple and Kylie Minogue. Both pics are due to be released next year.

[03.07.2010]
Laut Twitch sollen gleich zwei neue "Mad Max"-Filme in einem Aufwasch gedreht werden...[...] George Miller is working on not one but TWO new Mad Max films, the duo slated to be shot back to back. The title already known to the public is Mad Max: Fury Road and word is that Fury Road will be followed immediately by Mad Max: Furiosa. The two films will reportedly be shot back to back for rapid release.

[27.06.2010]
CS! sprach mit Tom Hardy...Q: Can you talk about how you got involved? Is that shooting? Is it ready to go?
Tom Hardy: I'm obviously limited as to what I can say. These things are always binded to secrecy and I think that's a good thing for the film anyway. I'm not allowed to give away anything. Without incriminating myself in any way, it's a very big film. To step into the shoes of Mel Gibson... George [Miller] and Mel created the franchise Mad Max, which started off as an independent which then blew up. It took off. It became the Mad Max as you know it with t-shirts and DVDs. No computer game yet, but you know, it was early days. This was back before internet. Before all that sort of stuff. I was born the year it came out, so now it's very funny that I've now been asked to play Mad Max. I spent four hours. It was kind of an anamoly. There were many, many actors that would probably be right for Mad Max and there's many out there who could probably do an exceptional job to portray him. It's especially a challenge to step in the shoes of such an iconic character. I'm aware that I'm going to take a certain number of casulties when I go in and play him. If I concentrate on that, it's obviously not going to be the best thing for the project. We have to take it differently, as George is taking it. It's a relaunch and revisit to the world. An entire restructuring. That's not to say that it's not picking up or leaving off from the Mad Max you know already, but it's a nice re-take on the entire world using the same character, depositing him in the same world, but bringing him up to date by 30 years. Mel would be perfect for it but, for some reason, he's not doing it and I am. You can expect the same amount of grit and rawness and authenticity and performance, I hope to deliver. But that's really the crux of me and George to deliver and all the other actors as the other characters. But also we have the new world afforded to filmmakers today with all the opportunities. I think the boys that did Lord of the Rings are involved. That kind of stuff as well. CGI is not going to be -- I think it's going to be much more about how you deal with action. These things are going to be really there. Big rigs, big explosions, big car crashes. Big violence, you know. It's going to actually happen as opposed to doing a 2D turned to 3D screen. It's going to be an adventure, let's put it that way. We're shooting for a year.Q: Can you at least say when you're going to be in front of the cameras?
Hardy: I can't say when I'm going to be in front of the cameras. I'm actually headed tonight to Australia to start some stunt-training. I'm training now. Even though I'm smoking. I'm meant to drop 30 pounds so smoking and one meal a day is my training at the moment. I'm going to start fighting soon. The harder stuff, as we get close to the line. I'll probably get three or four months of fight training out there. Seven days a week. All that kind of horrible s--t.Q: So you're going to train for three months and then shoot for a year?
Hardy: Shooting is probably nine months. Training is allocated as two months. We don't know if that's going to push a little bit or come up a little bit. It's a gray area. There's very anomalies and shifting papers. All kinds of people's shifting schedules, from what I'm aware, need to be tied down. The movie is absolutely healthy. It is going, it's just a question of, not if, when precisely.Q: You mention shooting in Australia? Have they decided to displace the geographic non-specificity of the original?
Hardy: It's absolutely the same spot. The same spot.Q: So you're going to have an Australian accent?
Hardy: This is a new area to me. It's up to people like George. I don't know. I don't know. Whatever suits the revisit. It would be bold for me to give you an honest answer now. I don't know and a lot has to be left to the process. It depends on what feeds the project for the best of the project, always.Q: You're dropping 30 pounds?
Hardy: I've already dropped it.Q: Are you aiming for a muscular cut, being very thin? What the look you've envisioned?
Hardy: Imagine a hungry wolf. Or like when you put a cat in the bath. You grab a cat by the throat and stuff it under the f--king water. You know what it looks like? That's what I'm going to look like. But like a puma. Very hungry at very dangerous. It's imperative. This is the kind of guy who's not well. So I have to create that reality.

[26.06.2010]
CS! meldet...At the junket for Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, ComingSoon.net learned from actress Teresa Palmer that she's not going to be appearing in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, the planned relaunch of Miller's breakthrough sci-fi action thriller, this one starring Tom Hardy in the role of Mad Max.
"I'm not [in it], actually," Palmer said, "That's just a rumor that has been on the internet." [...]

[29.01.2010]
THR.com meldet...Nicholas Hoult is walking "Fury Road," the new "Mad Max" movie from series writer-director George Miller.
Zoe Kravitz, Teresa Palmer and Adelaide Clemens also are in various states of negotiations to join the actioner.
The movie is set a short while after the story detailed in 1985's "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," which keeps Mad Max, the character originated by Mel Gibson, relatively young.
Details are being kept quiet, but it is known that Hoult's character is named Nux. Kravitz, whose character's name is Five Wives, Palmer and Clemens are in a convoy being chased by bad guys.
Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are starring in the pic. The movie will shoot in Australia this summer; Warner Bros. will distribute. [...]

[17.01.2010]
HeraldSun.com meldet...ACTRESS Teresa Palmer is to play a leading role in George Miller's hugely anticipated fourth Mad Max film Fury Road after her co-star in The Sorcerer's Apprentice spilt the beans in Los Angeles.
Palmer's Sydney agency Shanahan's would not comment on the casting yesterday, nor would production house Kennedy Miller.
But actor Jay Baruchel told reporters interviewing him for the new Dreamworks film How To Train Your Dragon that Palmer, who splits her time between Australia and Hollywood, was preparing for a gruelling shoot on the new Mad Max episode.
"She gets to work with him, and she's (going to be) doing Mad Max 4 with Miller," Baruchel said.
The actor, who counts Palmer as a very good friend after working with her on the Sorcerer film, said he didn't know the character's exact name, but believed it was the female lead.
"She's the main chick in Fury Road," he said.
"She's going to be there for over a year. It's really, really cool."
Palmer could not be contacted yesterday, but on Thursday night appeared very upbeat with her new best mate Lara Bingle and boyfriend Nash Edgerton at a Sydney film festival.
Details are secret so it's not known if Palmer will replace or star with Charlize Theron, who signed on to the project last October.
Miller previously cast Palmer (Bedtime Stories) and Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) as villains in his aborted 2008 superhero film Justice League of America.
The mammoth Mad Max production is scheduled to shoot for 30 weeks this year in and around Broken Hill.
British actor Tom Hardy will play Max.

[25.10.2009]
DH meldet...It's official, a fourth "Mad Max" begins pre-production next week and will be shot around the Australian state of New South Wales starting in August next year.
Speaking at a press conference in Sydney on Saturday, director George Miller revealed that he's "still in the middle of casting" and isn't sure who'll be involved as yet, putting doubt on some online rumors earlier that emerged this week about Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron scoring roles.
Australian media reports have been quick to suggest that local thesp turned Hollywood action hunk Sam Worthington is another name on the list, but Miller is keeping his options open for now - "It could be Mel [Gibson], it could be anyone".
Expected to be one of the largest and most ambitious live action films ever made in Australia, the project comes at a time when the Australian film production industry is in trouble.
With the local economy holding up better than many other developed nations during the global financial crisis, the Australian dollar has soared to record highs which has caused various international film productions to skip out on production Down Under due to the expense, notably last week's loss of the "Green Lantern" live-action film.
Miller will develop the fourth film 'Fury Road' (he confirmed the title) as he continues production on the "Happy Feet" sequel, both with CarriageWork.
Thirty weeks of the filming are expected to take place in and around Broken Hill, the same area where much of the second film "The Road Warrior" was shot.

[22.10.2009]
Bei CS! gibt es ein Gerücht zur möglichen "Mad Max 4"-Besetzung...E! Online's sources are saying that George Miller is eying Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down, "Band of Brothers") to star in Mad Max 4. Mel Gibson is not expected to return.
The Mad Max revamp is a long way from fruition, and Miller is being very secretive about the roles and plot. Actors auditioning for the film have only been given a letter for their character's name. The studio has yet to sign off on Miller's choices, and no formal offers have been made. [...]

[20.05.2009]
Harry von AICN meldet...[...] I was contacted from Down Under by a reliable informant who confirms that MAD MAX 4 is a go. Apparently - George Miller has already had the various vehicles built for years now - as they were built for the doomed FURY ROAD shoot - which was shelved while George explored JUSTICE LEAGUE possibilities. That said, the cars are out of mothballs and being prepped and tuned for the upcoming shoot. There will be a new MAX as this isn't an Ethan Embry story. There's also word on a MAD MAX Playstation 3 game that we'll be getting prior to the movie. [...]